Nonsmall cell lung cancer is one of the largest types of cancer, along with breast, prostate and colon. Unlike the other three cancers, however, it produces a very high rate of mortality and relatively short remaining lifespans after diagnosis. This is partly due to the fact that most lung cancer is diagnosed in the more ... read more »

A study conducted at the University of Michigan presented at the recent ASCO meeting in Chicago demonstrated for the first time that antidepressant duloxetine (Cymbalta) can relieve some of the peripheral neuropathy (nerve pain) that occurs as a side effect of chemotherapy. The most potent chemotherapies used to treat various cancers, such as paclitaxel and ... read more »

An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association reports on results of a study of 325 depressed primary care patients in the Chicago area. According to the study, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) delivered through a phone conversation is just as effective as face-to-face counseling in the office.  The advantage of phone therapy, though, ... read more »

According to a Stanford University Medical School research study, 3.6 percent of US adults engage in sleepwalking. The research also showed that sleepwalking may be associated with depression or anxiety. Sleepwalking is considered a disorder related to inappropriate arousal during nonREM sleep. In this study directed by prominent sleep researcher Dr. Maurice Ohayon, people with depression, ... read more »

Data from a randomized clinical trial, reported on at ASCO 2012, show that patients with metastatic breast cancer did better with an older, now generic therapy than with two newer more expensive therapies. Treatment with the older therapy called paclitaxel (or Taxol, its former brand name) plus targeted therapy Avastin, produced a progression-free survival of ... read more »

Middle-aged people who suffer from depression may have a higher risk of contracting senile dementia later on. So concludes a research team led by Deborah Barnes from the University of California at San Francisco, based on a study investigating 13,000 patients in California, with six years of followup. People with mid-life or later-life depression showed ... read more »

TV celebrity Suzanne Somers was treated for breast cancer herself, and has openly spoken about what she called the “vast and often pointless use of chemotherapy” (Huffington Post, 2009). This comment refers to the great suffering inflicted on many women by the side effects of chemotherapy, when the therapeutic gain in extended lifespan is minimal. ... read more »

On June 1, Connecticut became the 17th US state to approve the medical use of marijuana. This was in response to the claims of many patients over the years that marijuana use makes chemotherapy for cancer more tolerable by reducing the nausea and vomiting associated with it. The new law in Connecticut stipulates that only ... read more »

Up to one-third of US adults may end up with diabetes by the year 2050, if current rising trends continue, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). These numbers indicate the importance of educating the public on how lifestyle choices involving healthy eating and physical exercise must be more widely disseminated, says Ann Albright ... read more »

Despite the rise in popularity of targeted therapies, traditional chemotherapy is still a mainstay of cancer treatment. Nonetheless, many patients cannot tolerate the chemotherapy regimen they are supposed to take because of the nausea and vomiting it causes, in spite of medications taken to prevent this side effect. Dr. Rudolph Navari of Indiana University of ... read more »

If you type the phrase “ambien addiction” into Google search, 1,710,000 items appear. Does this suggest the possibility that Ambien is an addictive drug?   Below are some prominent items on the web, that address this issue. At www.allnurses.com, a discussion forum for nurses, one poster discusses how she just terminated a long-term friendship with ... read more »

Elizabeth Hartney at health site About.com has composed a list of the ten most addictive pain killers on the market today.  All of these are synthetic or semi-synthetic opiates. Here is the list: 1. Fentanyl 2. Stadol 3. OxyContin 4. Demerol 5. Hydrocodone 6. MS Contin 7. Percocet 8. Lorcet 9. Dilaudid 10. Zydone In ... read more »

According to a recent article for medscape.org, almost 4.5 percent of American adults suffer from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and only 11 percent of these are being treated.  In fact, ADHD is the second most common psychiatric disorder in adults, trailing only major depression.  ADHD is frequently thought of as being damaging for children ... read more »

The imminent opening of ASCO 2012 promises to be a showcase of the fruits of biotechnology research in developing targeted therapies of different classes.  These therapies attack the progression of metastatic cancer in a host of different ways. Thanks to Luke Timmerman at www.xconomy.com, we have a list of the most interesting targeted therapies to ... read more »

According to the authors of a recent article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, about half of US adults take dietary supplements. What seems to motivate people to take supplements is the belief that they can prevent chronic disease, and particularly cancer. However, the authors state there is little robust scientific evidence that ... read more »